Marque of the Month
Corvette
October                  
was previewed in January 1953 at the Waldorf Astoria Motorama in New York.
was first driven off the assembly line on June 29, 1953.
was first offered with a V-8 in model year 1955, as was a three-speed manual trans.
was first offered with fuel injection and a 4-speed manual transmission in 1957.
was first offered as a coupe in 1963 (the famous "split-window"), based on the Mako Shark show car.
was re-designed in 1968, along the lines of the Mako Shark II show car.
was not fully re-designed again until 1984.
was re-designed again in 1997.

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1954

1957

1958

1962

1964

1965

1966

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1970

1973

1977

1986

1996

1998

2005

The Chevrolet Corvette was designed as a "halo" car, and has remained as such for it's entire production life.  Sharing little in common with the rest of the Chevrolet line, it has truly been America's only real sports car for most of the last 50 years.

The original design targets for the Corvette were the British sports cars of the late 1940's.  Emulating those vehicles took the form of a small-engined light-weight vehicle with little creature comforts (even side windows were missing on the 1st generation).  Sales of the 1953-1954 models were disappointing, and in 1955 the target changed to a brawnier, more comfortable American performance machine.  Gone were the straight-six and two-speed automatic, side curtains and mesh headlight covers, replaced by a V-8, 3-speed manual transmission, roll-up windows and protruding headlights.

Throughout the 70's, the Corvette became more of a GT and less of a sports car.  In the mid 80's a concerted effort was made to return the Corvette, if optioned properly, to the cutting-edge performance sports car fold. The latest generation has versions that can rival the European "super cars" in overall performance.
 
Did You Know?
  • The 1953 production line was a test line in Detroit, where all 300 1953's were built.
  • All Corvettes from 1954 - 1981 were built in St. Louis, Missouri.
  • There are no 1983 Corvettes.
© 2002 San Francisco Historical Automobile Society, P.O. Box 880233, San Francisco, CA 94188-0233